Trouble Maker

A/N: Hey, everyone. My readers of My Angel already know that there will not be a posting this week, and I just wanted to give a heads up to the followers of Trouble Maker that I am still undecided if chapter thirty-nine will be ready with all of the things going on. We had a death in my work family, and it is taking its toll on myself and my co-workers. Aside from the over all depression encompassing us all, there is the matter of complete mayhem as far as scheduling goes.

On top of that, my home is under DIY renovation, and I now have to walk down three flights of stairs just to get my coffee creamer in the morning. I swear, being a woodworker/plumber/locksmith/painter is the most damning occupation in the world! Never EVER learn multiple household trades. Suddenly you take on far too many tasks for you to handle. (As well as have family members calling you over at God awful hours for repairs!)

-Andi

Chapter Thirty-Eight:

"Hey there, Little Lady!" Matteo grinned down at the expectant mother as her eyes fluttered open the next day.

"Matteo?" Sookie grumbled, rubbing her adapted eyes that could see him clearly in the darkness. "What are you doing in here?"

"Northman told me to check on you if you weren't out of bed by three. It's a quarter after, so here I am," Rhames explained.

"When did he do that?" Sookie mumbled, slowly sitting up.

"After you fell asleep but before sunrise."

"Oh." Sookie yawned wide, giving her aching body a stretch.

"You doing okay?"

Sookie nodded as she rocked herself gently to get momentum off of the bed. Matteo laughed at the necessity. "You can ask for help getting up, you know."

"Not until I actually need it," she grumbled again. "I refuse to resign myself to it until absolutely necessary."

"Suit yourself." Matteo shrugged before asking, "What do you want to do today?"

"Call Ludwig about birthing stuff, call the contractor who's working on our house and see how that's going along, and probably shop online for baby stuff," Sookie rattled off as she went into the closet to find something to wear that day. She perused quickly before heading toward the bathroom.

The Were guard left the bedroom when he saw Sookie pause in the bathroom door and look at him expectantly. Even though Eric had hired him, paid him, and given him the code to the safe room, Sookie still would not let Matteo be alone with her Bonded when she was not in the room during the day. The guard chuckled to himself as he went to sit in the den. Sookie was a protective Mate, and Eric had to be proud of that.

Making himself at home in the den, Matteo played a few rounds of solitaire before Sookie joined him. She had her phone to her ear as she spoke to the contractor building her new home, and when she hung up, she was beaming happily.

"They're ahead of schedule!" she crowed. "The house should be done by the first week of November! That gives me plenty of time to get the nursery just how I want it before the twins come." She did an amusing little twirl of excitement before coming to flop onto the couch. Rubbing the expanding globe of her belly she crooned at the children inside of her, "You'll have the perfect little room ready and waiting for you!"

Matteo was smiling to himself as Sookie spoke to her children. "Are you going to call Ludwig next?" he asked after Sookie had stopped her one sided conversation and just continued stroking her belly.

"Yeah, I guess," she mumbled.

"Nervous?" he asked knowingly.

"More than a little. It's like the second she starts telling me all this stuff, some count down clock starts ticking." Matteo laughed at her reasoning. "I just want to keep putting it off," she admitted.

"Well, they're not going to wait once they're ready," Matteo pointed out. "Count down or not, it's better to be prepared now just in case they come sooner than Ludwig thinks. After all, she's said it herself- she doesn't know when these kids are coming."

Sookie groaned at his logic, "I know. I know." She fingered her cell phone contemplatively before she punched in Ludwig's number.

"Good morning, Little Girl. What can I do for you today?" Ludwig's voice sent a trill of anxiety down the woman's spine.

"I was wondering if you could give me the rundown on preparing for labor and stuff. I've read a couple books, but I was curious if you knew anything about what I'll go through that might be different from a human birth?" she asked hopefully.

"I see." There was a brief pause before the doctor continued, "I do not see the actual process being much different than a human birth. It could be more taxing physically with all of the magic involved. Of course, the multiple birth factor will also increase the strain. You will be doing twice what most women must only do once. If you can carry them longer than a human woman could carry two children, then they will also be considerably larger than most twins are born."

"So I could be pushing two seven pound babies out of me rather than two five pound babies?" Sookie whimpered slightly in her throat. "Oh, please, let the bigger one come out first. Maybe I'll be so stretched out the second will just fall out of me!"

Matteo roared with laughter at Sookie's prayer, doubling over himself as tears streamed down his face. "Oh my God, that is the most hilarious and horrifying thing I've ever heard!" he was gasping for breath still.

Ludwig was chuckling on the other end of the line, "We will see how fortunate you are." After that, the doctor continued to explain the birthing process, and what Sookie's body would go through during labor and delivery.

By the end of the conversation, Sookie was curled up on the couch, rubbing her belly anxiously once more. "Well, I am officially terrified," she whispered fretfully.

Matteo rose from the couch and returned with her laptop. Setting it in front of her he said, "Here, look for some cute baby stuff. It'll make you feel better."

"How?" Sookie pouted, reaching for the computer.

"Because you'll get all those mommy hormones running rapid, and you'll be so excited to use all the stuff you buy that you'll forget all about the scary stuff."

"How do you know?" She really wanted him to have a viable answer.

"I have five sisters. Terrified pregnant women are nothing new to me!" he laughed.

"So they're all younger than you?" Sookie opened the laptop and waited for the computer to boot up.

"Yeah, and all but the youngest married a Were. Our Mami was so proud when four of her daughters all managed to have Were children."

"Did she mind that your youngest sister married a human?" Sookie asked.

Matteo shook his head, "Actually, my youngest sister isn't married yet. She's still young, and no one's nagging her to marry yet. "

Sookie smiled a bit, "How old are your sisters?"

"Well, Sophia and Olivia are twins, and they're twenty-nine. Evelyn is twenty-seven. Angela is twenty-five, and Irene is twenty-four. I'm thirty-one, if you were wondering."

"I was," Sookie laughed. "I'd really like to meet all of them. I can tell they're really important to you."

Matteo smiled, "They are. Our dad wasn't that great to them as far as being there. He wasn't bad to them, just didn't take any interest in them. Partly because they weren't transforming Weres. Also because they were girls, and he just didn't have the first clue on what to do with them. So, it was up to me to watch out for them. Teach them about boys. Make sure they could take care of themselves properly."

"Do you all look alike? Before my transfusions, Jason and I looked an awful lot alike."

"Well, we got some variation. When we're all standing together you can see it. Same nose here, same hair there, but if there's just two of us together, most people don't see the relation. Irene and I look absolutely nothing alike, but if you put Sophia between us, you can kind of see it. I don't know how many times I got mistaken for their boyfriend! "

Sookie laughed, "That had to be awkward."

"More annoying than awkward," he laughed as well. They spent the afternoon browsing baby sites on the computer, Matteo laughing to himself at the money she was spending on all of her items. Sookie had been oblivious to the amount she had racked up in clothes and toys until she went to check out and froze in horror. "Oh, just buy it all!" Matteo nudged her. "Eric's got more than enough money to handle you spending that on his kids. I bet he'd be real happy, actually. You don't ever spend his money."

Sookie's pointer hovered over the purchase icon, but she could not make herself press it. Matteo finally rolled his eyes and slapped the key. "Matteo!" she cried in alarm. "You gotta let me get there! Spending that kind of money isn't my thing, even with Eric prodding at me constantly to do so. I was gonna do it myself."

Rolling his eyes once more, Matteo replied, "You need to get there faster, Hon. What are you going to do in the emergency room when one of the kids breaks an arm? You going to stand there looking at the medical bills or say 'screw the costs! Fix my baby!'?"

"Apples and oranges," she muttered.

"Maybe it is, but your man has more than enough money to spoil his kids and wife rotten. You shouldn't be preoccupying yourself for so long over trivial crap. You have enough real stuff to be worrying over."

Sookie frowned for a moment, "I don't want to be spoiled rotten. I don't want my kids growing up having ten of everything. I want them to respect what they have, not abuse it because they know they can have a replacement the next day."

Matteo sighed, "Okay, let me ask you this. Of the things you ordered, how much of it was just crap you didn't need?"

Thinking for a second she admitted, "A little less than half."

"All right, so you indulged a little bit. That's cool. You can set boundaries for yourself along the way, but honestly, you were getting quality stuff. It costs more. You didn't buy a LOT of stuff, you bought stuff that's durable and will last. It's not a pair of designer jeans that you're paying for the label."

Sookie nodded in acceptance, "You're right."

"I know." He grinned at her. "Now, am I going to have to take your mind off of this too?" At her look he sighed and shook his head. "So, what are you doing tonight now that you have your to do list done?"

Taking a moment to think, Sookie began, "Eric's going to Fangtasia tonight. He hasn't been there in a while, and I guess someone's been hounding Pam about some business meeting. Eric finally accepted, and is meeting with her tonight."

"I see. Well, I'll stay here with you tonight until Eric gets back."

"I'm not going out anywhere. You don't have to sit with me," she laughed.

"It's cool. After yesterday, I really would feel better having someone with you at all times."

Sookie shrugged, "If it's what you want to do, I have no complaints. Company is nice to have."

Matteo tilted his head at that comment. He could have taken it for what it was, but if having five younger sisters had taught him anything, it was that women spoke very little with words. Her expression said it all. She was lonely.

"Do you feel isolated, Sookie?" Matteo asked. Another shrug lifted her shoulders, and Matteo smiled. "It won't always be like this, you know? There's going to be something that changes this life you're living. It won't always be hiding away in the house during the day with me as your only company."

"I know. I've just been thinking a lot about what happened yesterday. Not just getting shot, or how Eric handled Sweety. I've been thinking about how initially, I didn't want to leave the house ever again. How I didn't want the babies to ever leave my body where they could come into this world and be hurt... Then, after I understood how Likens are treated, the circumstances of how some of them come to exist; something in me snapped. I had to go out into the world and confront Colonel Flood. I had to say something. To speak for the Likens."

"Yeah, I heard about that." Sookie could hear the Were remembering the irate phone call he had received from Colonel Flood.

"I'm sorry you got kicked out of the pack. I thought you said getting kicked out of one didn't happen so easily." Sookie apologized while trying to discern how she had caused so much damage.

Matteo smirked. "Weres that support vampires in these parts aren't really accepted into a pack. I was more or less a guest. Since you and Eric are my employer, they know where my loyalties truly lie. You challenged the Pack Master, and he decided that I would not be safe for his pack to associate with. It's just politics."

"I need to be more sensitive to those politics, though. I went there to push buttons, but I didn't mean to jam them up as hard as I did. Do you think you could teach me more about pack dynamics and politics? I want my next meeting with Colonel Flood to be much more palatable, and much less passive aggressive."

Nodding, Matteo replied, "I can do that. To be honest though, sometimes a little aggression is the only way to get a Were to listen to you. Biggest thing to avoid when you do that, though, is not to raise your voice."

"Well, I definitely gave him attitude, but I don't recall raising my voice," Sookie laughed a bit. "Since we're on the topic of my meeting with the Colonel, could you tell me- did you know about some Weres dying recently?"

Matteo balked. "No. I didn't. I'm not surprised that I wasn't made aware, though. Honestly, with how little they let me socialize with them, it makes sense I wouldn't notice. Who died? How many?"

"Two. Didn't catch names. One male and one female. One was shot, so he might have been killed by Sweety. The other though, she was pretty mangled. My first thoughts were an animal attack."

Matteo frowned as he absorbed this information. Finally he said, "I could definitely chalk the first one up to Sweety, but a Liken could never tear up a full Were. Unless she shot her and then came from her hide to tear up the remains."

Sookie shook her head. "Too much blood for her to be dead before getting torn up like that."

The Were nodded in understanding. "Then the Shreveport Pack has more to worry about than Sweety."

Sookie's lips tilted downward in a grim expression. "So it would seem. Hopefully he will call us in for assistance before any more loss of life."

"You think he will?"

Nodding, Sookie crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the couch. "I think so. After all, even though they're vampires, Eric, Godric and Pam are Enforcers of the Council and Pantheon. It makes sense that they would come to us when they have exhausted their resources."

"I don't know, Hon. There's never been Enforcers before. Other Supes might not know what to make of them, or when they should be allowed to request assistance. I don't know how bad things would have to get before they'd ask for help. Probably worse than if the Enforcers were Weres."

With a heavy sigh, Sookie had to agree. "Do you know a way that I could extend our help without being offensive?"

"Sookie, the way I see it, you did that last night."

"It felt pretty offensive," she laughed.

"Nah, not really," the bodyguard chuckled as well. "You had a point you wanted to make, and you did it while still letting Flood know that the bridge was not burned."

"I suppose so."

"What are we discussing?" Eric's voice drifted down the hall, and Sookie could hear the gentle padding of his feet; a sound only experienced in their home. When in public, Eric's footwork was silent. Even when he seemed perfectly at ease.

"My conversation with Colonel Flood last night."

"I see." Eric arrived in the den, leaned over the back of the sofa, and planted a lingering kiss atop Sookie's head. He was already dressed for Fangtasia, and Eric could feel Sookie's curiosity in the Bond. "The meeting I have for the evening is quite early. Earlier than I would normally take, but Pam informs me that this potential business partner was quite insistent that negotiations could be lengthy."

"What kind of partnership is it?" Sookie asked.

"It is a territorial compromise. Another collective of Supes wishes to negotiate perimeters and safety of their members, I suppose."

"What kind of Supes are they?"

"Witches."

Sookie's jaw tensed. "Who all will be at the meeting with you?"

"Pam and Cho," Eric answered, confused by her burst of unease.

"Eric," Sookie began tentatively, "do you think you could bother Godric to attend with you?"

"Why, Dear One? Pam assures me they are not necromancers." He knew that she had been made uneasy by his past run in with witches of the darkest art.

"Please?" Her eyes rounded pleadingly. "I just got a feelin'. I really want him with you tonight, Darlin'."

Smiling indulgently, Eric kissed her crown once more. "As you wish, My Sookie. I will call him. Since it will be early, I doubt Godric will decline my request."

"Thank you."

"You are welcome." Sookie stood up awkwardly from the couch, shuffling around the furniture to wrap her arms around her Bonded's waist. Her chin tilted up for a real kiss, and Eric happily obliged, taking his time to meld his mouth to hers.

Matteo took a great interest in his cell phone as the pair kissed goodbye for the evening, but even he had to look up after longer than a moment to gape at the continued connection. The prolonged kiss was making the bodyguard uneasy. Not because he was uncomfortable, but because Sookie seemed to not want her Bonded to go.

"Northman," Matteo broke them apart, "I don't think you should take this meeting."

Eric's surprise broke his lips from their seal against Sookie's. "And why is that?"

"Because Sookie seems to really think it's a bad idea. Call it instincts, call it precognition, call it whatever the hell you want, but something in her is screaming not to let you go."

"Yes, I can feel that," Eric agreed. "But she is also pregnant. You do not believe that it is just the will of a pregnant woman not wanting her mate to leave her when their time together is already so limited by day and night?"

"I'm right here, y'know." Sookie teasingly jabbed her fingertip into Eric's rib.

"I know, Sookie." He combed her fingers through her hair. "Now, with complete honesty, tell me: are you scared of me leaving, or just not wanting me to leave?"

"Both," she responded without hesitation. "If you would let me come with you...?"

Eric shook his head emphatically. "I do not want you in Fangtasia with so many supernaturals that are less than thrilled about your condition."

"But, Eric," Sookie began, "booze are flammable!"

The vampire let out a bellowing laugh. "So you will be there as my own personal arsenal?"

"Gladly."

"My Sookie," he kissed her lips shortly, "I will be safe tonight. I promise. You stay here with Rhames, and I will call you when my meeting is over, and I am on my way home."

"Kiss me once more," she commanded. Eric captured her mouth in another lingering kiss, only pulling away when she did. A strange warmth remained upon his lips as she murmured, "Be safe."

Leaning his forehead against Sookie's, Eric wrapped his arms tightly about her waist and gave her a firm squeeze. "I will be back shortly," he said before pulling away and finally heading towards the door.

Sookie sighed at his back as Eric departed. Her eyes remained fixed on his back until she could see it no longer, and they shut their lids when she heard his car door shut. Holding her hand over her heart, she prayed that this anxious sensation would pass, and that her unwarranted fears would not be validated.

"Be safe," she whispered again as the engine of the Corvette roared down the driveway, taking her Bonded away from her.

TBC

A/N: Hopefully chapter thirty-nine will be ready by next Tuesday. Right now it's all a matter of juggling! Unfortunately, your humble writer does not have the best hand-eye coordination. Still, I will do my very best not to let you all down!

Please, remember to review!

-Andi